This is a short guide on how to find a Notary Public in Hong Kong, you will be able to get the Notary Public Hong Kong list, the recommendation fee guide of Notary Public in Hong Kong, and most importantly, the step-by-step procedure on how to obtain the right Notarization Service in Hong Kong that matches your needs.
Notary Public Meaning in Hong Kong
Notary Public in Hong Kong is regulated by Cap. 159 Legal Practitioners Ordinance, under Section 40B, highlights the Powers of Notaries Public as below
Without affecting the generality of subsection (1), the reference to powers in that subsection includes a reference to—
(a) the power to attest, authenticate or certify the due execution of documents; (b) the power to note or protest bills of exchange and to attest, by an act of honour, payment of bills of exchange for honour supra protest; (c) the power to administer oaths, affirmations or declarations.
Therefore, unlike certified true copy, when you approach a solicitor for notarization service, likely you are seeking a combination of services,
To certify the corporate documents of your Hong Kong company;
To sign a document (for example, Power of Attorney) in front of the solicitor with the proper capacity (Director) with verification of identity; and
Declare in front of the solicitor that you make a such decision with a clear mind
Then, bundled the whole set under one notarial certificate as one set of document
And that's why when you approach a Notary Public, the overall charges are usually higher than that of Certified True Copy, where Certified True Copy only means the certifier has sighted the original document, and sign on the copy of the original as a Certified True Copy.
However, for the notarization service in Hong Kong, it does not include the service of giving legal advice automatically when the solicitor acts in his official capacity, you may need to explicitly request for the legal advice at an extra cost.
What Is A Notary Public?
A notary public (sometimes referred to as simply a notary) is an individual public officer authorized to witness signatures, administer oaths and conduct other similar actions. In Hong Kong almost all notarys are solicitors. A notary is recognized internationally and nearly all the actions conducted by a notary are required for use in a foreign jurisdiction. Unlike a solicitor a notary does not give legal advice when acting in his official capacity.
For more information, you may refer to this article by the Law Society of Hong Kong on "What is A Notary Public"
Notary Public List in Hong Kong
Here is the link to the List of Notary Public in Hong Kong, in alphabetical order, total of over 300 notary public available for your selection, how would you select the right one for your important use overseas?
Our suggestion is: "Search for the Notary Public near me".
For example, "Wan Chai" is where your office or where you live, you may type the address and tick the box "Practising Members" for the result, then, send your inquiry by fax or email to three to five (3-5) solicitors and select the one that best fit your needs.
Of course, instead of liaising with several solicitors at one time, most of our customers with Directors usually stationed outside Hong Kong approach us for the liaison works, the same step-by-step procedure we will share with you here 100% FREE of charge.
Step by Step - How to obtain a Notary Public in Hong Kong
Check and ask clearly with the requester if there is any sample/template of the notarized document that you need to obtain
If no sample/template, see if there is any official guideline/requirement about what you need to prepare. This is because in some cases we came across, the requirement is only to obtain a certified true copy, no need notary public, and in some cases, the notarized document requires further apostille/legalization, so, the first and the most important step, know exactly what you need to obtain
Ready with the documents for a notary public in a scanned copy on hand, mark them with numbers, then states clearly what you need, what is the purpose of the notary public, and send your inquiry with all the scanned copies as attachments when you approach the solicitor
Ask for a quotation and a FREE sample/draft if possible, then, send that sample/draft to the requester to confirm that this is the right layout
If no sample/draft could be obtained, select the solicitor that you trust and pay for the fee first, then ask the notary public to issue a draft for confirmation purposes, and back to point 4 and seek the requester's confirmation
Schedule an appointment for the Director(s) to visit the office of the solicitor to sign in front of the lawyer (if applicable)
Ask the law firm to share you a scanned copy upon completion, but before send out; share that scanned copy with the requester to ensure that the document is in good order
Then, the law firm can send out the document to you, or else, you will save the time to make necessary revisions before sending out the document
Notarization Service in Hong Kong
For the Notary Service example, the most common arrangement is to issue a "Power of Attorney" for appointing an authorized representative in setting up a new business overseas
Take this Notarial Certificate as an example, we can only show you the cover page of the notarized document for the Power of Attorney, you can see that there are a total of eight (8) documents involved in this whole set of Notary Public documents, and each attachment has its purpose, therefore if you arrange it yourself, some mirror issues could be overlooked resulting the whole document voided.
Sounds more complicated than you thought? No problem, you can always come to us for the liaison work, we will check your documents, understand thoroughly the purpose of your request, then, we will liaise with the proper notary public, and share the quotation before any payment, simply drop us an email at catcherbiz@outlook.com, we will get back to you within two (2) working days, cheers.
Tags: apostille, certified true copy, notary, notary public
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